Channel 4 takes on The Defenders in criminal justice system docuseries

UK pubcaster Channel 4 has commissioned a four-part documentary series that explores the UK’s criminal defence system.

Shaminder Nahal

Produced by Spring Films, The Defenders (working title) gains access to one of the UK’s leading defence chambers, 25 Bedford Row, exploring the work that goes into preparing ‘the defence.’

The barristers handle everything from speeding fines to murder, shoplifting to armed robbery and high-stakes fraud to drug conspiracies, and the series follows the barristers from the moment they are given a case, through the judicial process, as they prepare for court and when the verdict is reached.

The Defenders has been commissioned as part of Channel 4’s Black to Front project, which aims to amplify black stories and voices, and accelerate change in representation.

Exec producing the series are Spring Films’ creative director Kathy Myers and Richard Melman.

Shaminder Nahal, Channel 4’s commissioning editor, said: “We’re used to seeing TV programmes about crime, but it’s rare to see what goes on in the world of the barristers defending the alleged criminals. These films will attempt to tell us new truths about the justice system, how it works, the people working within it and those caught up in it.”